Friday, May 2, 2014

The Atlantic Council, a U.S. think tank on transatlantic relations, honored Airbus Group CEO Tom Enders with the 2014 Distinguished Business Leadership Award at its Annual Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C. The banquet was attended by some 800 guests from over 60 countries. The ceremony followed a speech earlier in the day at the Atlantic Council on the need to further government and industrial relationships on both sides of the Atlantic. Enders accepted the leadership award from former Alabama Gov. Bob Riley. (Source: Airbus Group, 05/01/14) Gulf Coast note: The Airbus A320 final assembly line being built in Mobile, Ala., will open next year. Enders' and Alabama became close partners beginning with the competition to built aerial tankers for the Air Force. Airbus Group, at the time called EADS, planned to build them in Mobile, but Boeing won the contract. Enders continued talking to Alabama, and eventually a business case made sense to build A320s jetliners in Mobile.